A twenty-four-hour romance about two teens who meet—and perhaps change their minds about love—on a train ride to Upstate New York in the middle of a snowstorm

One train ride. Two strangers.

Noah is a hopeless romantic. He’s heading back home for one last chance with his first love, whom he broke up with when he went off to college.

Ammy doesn’t believe in true love—her parents being prime examples. She’s escaping from a mom who can’t take care of her to a dad who may not even want her. That is, until one winter night when Noah and Ammy find themselves in the same Amtrak car heading to Upstate New York.

After a train-wreck first encounter between the two of them, the Amtrak train suddenly breaks down due to a snowstorm. Desperate to make it to their destinations, Noah and Ammy have no other option but to travel together. What starts off as a minor detour turns into the whirlwind journey of a lifetime, and over the course of the night they fall in love. But come morning their adventure takes an unexpected turn for the worst. Can one night can really change how they feel about love...and the course of their lives forever?

I adore books with a romance steming from strangers meeting one night through extraordinary circumstances, especially when it comes to delayed traveling and crazy adventures. In Love and Other Train Wrecks we have two strangers who wound up next to each other on a train that breaks down. They decide to take a risk and embark on a crazy adventure to reach their destinations but didn’t plan on the feelings they would develop in the process.

Noah was my favorite of the two characters. He was a little nerdy but pretty adorable and sweet. He is on board the train with an elaborate romantic plan to try to win back his ex and the more we find out the circumstances of their relationship and the breakup, the more we discover it’s guilt driving him instead of love. It was like we are seeing all of the ways they didn’t work as he is realizing it and that just opened his eyes more and more to the girl he is having this adventure with. Ammy was heading to surprise her father at his wedding, burdened with her own guilt of leaving her mother behind in such a fragile state. Her family life is quite complicated and she was struggling with her place among it all. Ammy wasn’t quite as likable for me but I understood her motivations though maybe not so much how she went about it. The two of them sort of butt heads at first, and well on and off throughout their adventure, but they decide to work together to reach their destinations, even when fate seems to be throwing them off course at every turn.

As far as the adventure went, I thought it was a lot of fun and I had to laugh at some of the predicaments they got themselves into. The romance felt a little flat to me though. I didn’t feel much chemistry between the two of them and perhaps that was because Ammy was a little prickly, especially with all that is going on in her life. The ending felt a little rushed as well and I wanted more from it. But the author was able to create a cute story about letting go and moving on with a little twist thrown in that made the book overall enjoyable.

About Leah Konen

Leah Konen grew up in a two-stoplight farming town in Washington State before moving to suburban North Carolina, where there were many more stoplights and lots of sweet tea. After studying journalism at the University of North Carolina, she headed to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. When she’s not working on novels and articles or writing for fashion brands, she enjoys devouring new books, spoiling her dog, Farley, biking around Brooklyn, checking out live music, and binge-watching TV. Find her online at www.leahkonen.com.

8 Responses to “Review: Love and Other Train Wrecks by Leah Konen”

Happy New Year, Sara!
I love this trope too usually but haven’t read many books that I thought executed it well. This sounds really cute and I like the sound of the characters. What a bummer about the romance falling flat though! No one wants that!Nick recently posted…Monthly Memories: December 2017

This book sounds adorable! It’s a bummer the romance felt flat, though! I love books like this, too, but I feel like the short time span of books like this can make the ending either amazing or fall short. Great review!Jessica @ Strung out on Books recently posted…SEO Tips for Book Reviews and Book Bloggers

Noah was an immediate favorite, but Ammy grew on me once I learned more and understood her better. It was a fun escapade and I was a huge fan of the way Konen did the ending.Sam@WLABB recently posted…In a Nutshell Reviews

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In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Forever 17 Books. All books I review are either bought by myself, won, or received in exchange for an honest review.